Is Social Media Affecting Your Self Care?

Social media has gotten us all super confused and way too disconnected from reality. There is a strange obsession that the millennial generation has with keeping up with the lives of others through social media. We are obsessed with perfectly posed images of love, joy, happiness and success. Social media allows us to live vicariously through the lives of others; however, in actuality we are scrolling endlessly in search of self fulfillment. The problem with social media is that it is a censored reality. We are able to control when people see us and how people see us. It is unfortunate that so many of us are falling in false love with these posed images of people who are supposedly #GOALS. Isn’t it ironic that no one posts about the bills they couldn’t afford to pay this month, or the times they spent all week crying over their relationship. Maybe, just maybe…we focus so heavily on building social media friendships, because we really need real friends. Or maybe, we feel the need to feel validated by thousands of virtual hearts, because what we need most is real love.

Now I am very guilty of some of these things myself, but the more time I spend researching self care, the more I’ve realized that social media can have a lot of negative effects on self care.

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to present a self care workshop to a room full of college women through my motivational speaking business, Tierra True. It was extremely refreshing to be surrounded by so many phenomenal young women. In my first exercise, I asked them to write down their daily routine. To my surprise, almost every one of the young ladies expressed that the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning is grab their cellphones. First, to turn off their alarm clocks, and secondly, to check their social media accounts. Now, this is a real issue for me, because if you have read my article Protecting Your Positive Energy, then you know the first things you do in the morning, effect the trajectory of your day. If our millennial generation is set on social media being apart of their morning routines, then it is absolutely necessary that we do it in ways that will support personal and professional development, but most importantly, SELF CARE!

Unfollow

As you are taking the time to scroll through your newsfeed, be mindful of the images that people are sending on a daily basis. If there is constant negativity flooding your timeline, then it is time that you tap that unfollow button. You are in control of what you allow into your virtual world, so take advantage of that and eliminate all images that distract you from your positive energy.

Turn off Your Notifications

Give your mind a break from the constant notifications by going into your settings and turning them off. By doing so, you will regain control, and you are less likely to feel the need to check your social media accounts as frequently as you would with the constant notifications.

Use Social Media as Inspiration

Most of us continue to scroll down our timelines looking for something to catch our attention to like, share or retweet. What is it that we are looking for? What many of us fail to realize is that we are looking for inspiration, motivation or validation of some kind. So if you are going to commit to daily scrolling, at least do yourself a favor and keep a record of what images attract your attention and use that as a basis of inspiration to self reflect on the wants ands needs that are not being met in your personal life. I challenge myself to only follow other motivational and lifestyle social media pages with a mission and vision that align with my own. If you want to protect your positive energy, I suggest that you follow motivational social media accounts, so that when you begin your scrolling spree first thing in the morning, you are flooded with positivity and motivation.

Connect with Real Friends

Social media has minimized a lot of face-to-face interactions, and this can lead to a real problem in the long run. Challenge yourself to go out to lunch or dinner with friends to strengthen your interpersonal skills. You will be doing yourself a favor in the long run, because it will help you improve your personal and professional development, by boosting your confidence in future interviews and networking events.

I hope this article has encouraged you to invest less time admiring the lives of others, and to spend more time admiring the beautiful and talent person that you already are! If you are not where you desire to be in your life right now, that’s great, because we should all be aspiring to be better! Don’t be discouraged, let your flaws be what motivates you to spend more time investing in yourself, so that when you look at your own captured beauty in an image, even you can’t resist the urge to give yourself a thumbs up!

I have a true passion for helping others thrive.I am a blogger, motivational speaker, youth mentor and self care coach who specializes in boosting confidence and building character by empowering the minds of future leaders. Check out more of my work by visiting tierratrue.com

About me

I have a true passion for helping others thrive.
I am a blogger, motivational speaker, youth mentor and self care coach who specializes in boosting confidence and building character by empowering the minds of future leaders. Check out more of my work by visiting tierratrue.com